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Close wins for Falcons, Bears; Blue Jays triumph
The Chalan Kanoa Bears eked out a 9-8 win over the defending champions Aces in the 2018 Saipan Baseball League last Thursday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.
Leftfielder Rick Dela Cruz hit a triple that drove in A.J. Lizama and then reached off a passed ball at the bottom of the ninth inning to hand the Bears the close win.
It was a come-from-behind victory as the Bears entered the last inning facing a 6-8 deficit. Kiku Lizama led off for the Bears at the bottom of the ninth and was struck out by Dung Tenorio. Catcher Virgil Secharmidal was next at bat and had a base hit before eventually making it home off the Aces’ successive errors. A.J. Lizama batted third and doubled and after giving up back-to-back hits, Tenorio was replaced by John Tudela. The Aces closer had not settled in yet on the mound and yielded a triple to Dela Cruz, while his passed ball gave the latter the time to score the game-winning run.
The triple was Dela Cruz’s lone hit in the game, while A.J. Lizama went 4-for-5 and scored two runs and three RBIs. Fred Songao was 3-for-4 and added one RBI.
In last Wednesday’s game, the Falcons also labored through an 8-7 win over the Mariners.
A three-run top of the ninth inning gave the Falcons enough cushion and they kept the shaky lead by playing tough defense at the bottom.
After the Mariners scored two runs and threatened the Falcons with only one out, the latter got back-to-back outs to leave runners stranded at third and second. The Falcons worked a 4-3 putout play on Nate Smith, while closer Nathan Camacho fanned Matt Kintol.
Ian Norita hit 3-for-4 for the Falcons and delivered three RBIs and one run, while Peter Lieto went 3-for-6 and scored two runs.
In other results last week, the Blue Jays topped the Indians, 16-14.
The Blue Jays got off to a strong start, scoring 10 runs in the first three innings and then withstood the Indians rally to notch the win.
